Brace locks



V. W. MENG Oct. 1, 1957 BRACE LOCKS Filed Dec. 26, 1956 VINVENTOR Vzrzw" Wfllewy BY @FM ATTORNEY United States Patent BRACE LOCKS Victor W. Meng, Garden City, N. Y., assignor to The Patent Scalfolding Co., Inc., Long Island City, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 26, 1956, Serial No. 630,629 1 Claim. (Cl. 304-40) This invention relates to an automatic gravity actuated brace lock.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an automatic lock consisting of a minimal number of component elements.

Another object of the invention is to provide a brace lock which may be mounted on, or removed from, a brace stud without deformation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a brace lock which is positively guided by the upright of a sectional scaffold.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a brace lock which occupies but a very small portion of the stud.

The invention resides generally in the provision of a flanged frame slidably mounted on the brace stud against the scaffold upright, the frame having a vertical closed slot terminating at its lower end in an enlarged opening suflicient to receive the brace stud when the frame is mounted thereon. The frame carries a barrier which slides past the upper end of the brace when the frame descends along the upright. The stud has a pair of vertical cutouts near its junction with the upright in which the flanges of the frame are received to prevent removal of the frame in the axial direction toward and over the free end of the stud.

Other features and attributes of the novel brace lock will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment selected for illustration in the accompanying drawing, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the brace lock;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 33 in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a front view illustrating the lower part of the frame in the position for removal off the brace stud.

The brace lock comprises a preferably threaded stud 11 and a casting 12 consisting of a frame 13, a connecting portion 14 and a barrier 15. The stud 11 is rigidly secured to the upright 10, for example, by welding. The frame 13 consists of a pair of vertical walls 16, 17 integral with a pair of opposing flanges 18, 19, respectively, the latter forming a vertical slot 20 of uniform width. The flanges 18, 19 terminate short of the lower transverse wall 21 whereby an enlarged opening 22 is provided whose area is sufiicient to enable frame 13 to be placed against the upright when in its uppermost position with respect to the stud 11, as is shown in Fig. 4.

The stud 11 has a pair of vertical cutouts 23, 24 symmetrically disposed With respect to its longitudinal axis in the proximity of the weldant 25 (see Fig. 3). The distance between cutouts 23, 24 corresponds substantially to the width of the vertical slot 20.

When assembling the brace lock, the frame 13 is first slid over the stud 11, the latter entering the enlarged 2,808,298 Patented Oct. 1, 1957 opening 22 and, when it abuts the upright at 10a, the frame is slid downwardly whereby the opposing edges of flanges 18, 19 enter the respective vertical cutouts 23, 24 in the stud 11. The member 12 is thus prevented from any but vertically reciprocating movement transversely of the stud and along the upright 10. To prevent an accidental disconnection from the stud 11, a transverse pin 26 is inserted through the lower ends of walls 16, 17 substantially in the center of opening 22 so as to maintain the flanges 18, 19 in the cutouts 23, 24.

The barrier 15 is parallel with the flanges 18, 19 and sufficiently spaced therefrom to descend in front of the free end of stud 11 when the frame 13 slides in downward direction along the surface 10a of the upright. The rear surfaces 14a and 21a of the connecting portion 14 and of the lower transverse wall 21, respectively, are concave; their curvature is complementary to the curvature of the upright 10.

In use, the member 12 is first pushed upwardly until the stud 11 abuts against the transverse pin 26. A brace 27 (shown in dot-dash lines in Fig. 2) is then suspended on the stud and the member 12 released to descend by gravity, whereby the barrier 15 drops in front of the stud to prevent removal of the brace until and unless the frame is again lifted. The length of barrier 15 is so chosen that its lower end is above the upper end of brace 27 when the frame is in its uppermost position. When two braces are suspended on the stud, the frame member may descend until one of the shoulders 23, 29 on barrier 15 abuts against the upper end of the outer brace.

By using a threaded stud, one or more braces may be suspended thereon and prevented from sliding off its free end by means of a nut or the like if the member 12 is removed or damaged. For removal of member 12, the transverse pin 26 is first extracted and the frame 13 slid upwardly until the stud 11 reaches the opening 22, that is, when both flanges 18, 19 are removed from the cutouts 23, 24.

It will be seen that I have invented a simple and inexpensive brace lock Whose locking action is entirely automatic, and whose locking member cannot be unintentionally removed from the stud and is positively guided and restricted in its movements by the stud and by the upright of a scaffold.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

As a novel article of manufacture for use in brace locks including a tubular upright and a brace stud anchored in said upright and radially projecting therefrom, said stud having a pair of opposing vertical cutouts in the proximity of its juncture with said upright; a brace locking member consisting of an elongated frame having an upper end and a lower end, a substantially horizontal connecting portion integral with said frame at said upper end of the latter, and a solid vertical barrier having an upper end and a lower end, said upper end of said barrier being integral with said connecting portion and said barrier being parallel with and substantially shorter than said frame, said frame consisting of a pair of vertical parallel walls abutting said upright, a pair of elongated flanges integral with, substantially at right angles to, and shorter than said vertical walls, and a transverse wall at said lower end thereof, said flanges defining an elongated vertical slot of uniform width terminating at said connecting portion, said frame having an enlarged opening between said transverse wall and said flanges in communication with said vertical slot for accommodation of said brace stud when said brace locking member is moved sufliciently upwardly along said upright, a transverse horizontal pin in said opening removably mounted between said' vertical walls of said frame, said flanges being partially received in said cutouts in said stud, and said frame having a rear surface complementary to the peripheral surface of said upright and in sliding engagement therewith, whereby said brace locking member is adapted to be reciprocally moved along said upright in vertical direction transversely df said stud to a'lternately loek or release one-br moi'ebraces suspended onsaid stud between said cutouts 'and the free "end thereof and be removed from saidstud when saidt-ransverse-pin'isremoved and said 'stu d is "received in said opening, said lower'end-of said'barrier 'being adjacent the free end of References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES LPATENTS Albrecht-.et a1. Apr. 21, 1953 Nordone Aug. 30, 1955 Borgman et--al. 'Dec.'13, 1-955 

